


and it's all coming back to me

by thedrugdealingshark



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-13 01:37:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3362984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedrugdealingshark/pseuds/thedrugdealingshark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What he and Kane had was real, Daniel can admit to that. The problem is, though, that Kane doesn't seem as willing to acknowledge it as Daniel is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and it's all coming back to me

**Author's Note:**

> Let me just tell you, okay, Kaniel is an extremely sensitive topic for me to deal with, writing about it makes the situation only about 10 times worse.

Daniel knows he’s not completely wrong when he says that he’s lost Kane.

But, he’s not completely _right_ , either. Maybe that’s just his hopes talking.

Kane’s a shell of what he used to be. Daniel knows this. Kane probably knows this too.

He’s nothing more than the Authority’s body guard, now (along with the help of J&J security). A dragon chained up behind bars, only being put to use when needed.

Daniel thought Kane had more dignity than that. Maybe not. Times get hard, and nobody understands that better than Daniel, himself.

Maybe he didn’t have any more options, maybe he was in a dark place, and being on the end of Stephanie and Hunter’s leash was the only way out. The light at the end of the tunnel.

Daniel had blamed himself for the longest of times. Maybe he still did. Kane _was_ devastated after Team Hell No broke up. Daniel hadn’t thought he would’ve taken it that badly.

He’s _Kane_ , Daniel had told himself. _He can survive anything._

Maybe surviving isn’t enough.

Things had looked up for Daniel ever since then, and he had left Kane behind in the ashes of what was the remains of their friendship.

_Now,_ however.

Now, things are different. Kane still persists within the rubble and Daniel’s sitting right next to him. Shot down from the sky like a meteor. Right back to where they started, together, yet apart. He has no one with the exception of Brie and his fans.

And he misses Kane. He shouldn’t, but he does.

“He’ll always be your best friend,” Brie gives him a sad little smile the night Kane attacked them on Raw. They’d managed to escape, driving off to nowhere in particular and Daniel was only just then catching his breath.

Daniel wondered how Brie could talk about him like that. She should’ve hate him. He should’ve hate him. But, he didn’t. He doesn’t now.

“He _was_ my best friend,” Daniel’s gripping the steering wheel so hard he’s sure he’s breaking a few blood vessels. His eyes are staring straight ahead in front of him. Ever so often, he’ll glance back in the rear view mirror to make sure Kane’s not lurking in the backseat. “he’s nothing to me, now.”

“He’s not your enemy,” Brie interjects. _Just talk to me, you don’t have to be alone in this._

“Close enough to it,” Daniel snaps. There’s no edge in his voice, no venom, but it’s enough to get the point across that Daniel doesn’t want to talk about it.

_This conversation is over._

_You don’t have to lie to me, you know._

He’d always thought of Kane as someone to fall back on, and it was hard to realize that he wouldn’t always be there. Daniel shouldn’t have expected any different, he should’ve known Kane would be at least slightly wounded after things ended the way they did.

Stephanie and Hunter had sent him after Daniel, and the personal grudge Kane had been holding against him ever since their break up didn’t help the matters any, either.

Good things never lasted, and it was like both Kane and Daniel were just now realizing this.

“You don’t have to admit that you still care for him, Daniel,” Brie had said to him when they’d found a hotel to stay in, a whole other city apart from the arena. “but I know that you do.”

Daniel had calmed down a lot within the past two hours, but he was still so paranoid and on edge that he couldn’t bear to let himself sleep. He sat on the edge of the hotel bed, his head in his hands, waiting it out until this mild panic attack left his system completely.

“You _stopped,_ ” This makes Daniel peer up at her.

“ _What?_ ”

“You stopped,” Brie says again, taking a seat next to him and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “He was lying on the ground, and you had time to get back in the car, but you stopped. You thought he was hurt, you wanted to make sure he wasn’t-”

“That’s ridiculous,” Daniel protests.

“It’s not,” Brie replies with a sort of annoyed playfulness that helps ease Daniel’s mood. “what’s ridiculous is you being so in denial. He’s hurt, you’re hurt. Just admit to it.”

He _had_ stopped. He’d hesitated right before getting back in the car. Kane had been lying on the concrete, not moving, not breathing, and Daniel had even took a step forward. Brie’s voice was ringing in his ears, screaming at him to get back in the car. It’s like time had rewinded itself and Daniel had forgotten about all the present situations at hand.

Kane was his friend. Kane would always be his friend.

Until Kane sat back up and reality smacked Daniel in the face, leaving him to stumble backwards and hurry into the car. They’d drove off just as Kane reached the car and Daniel watched him through his rear view mirror until Kane was engulfed into the night.

It was an endless cycle that Daniel had known for months. He’d hurt Kane, then Kane would hurt him, then he would hurt Kane, then Kane would hurt him.

Daniel was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He’d sometimes lie awake at night and wish things were back to the way they used to be.

Everything from that point forward seemed to go by in a flash. Going to Wrestlemania, winning the championship titles, getting injured, leaving, coming back.

Roman Reigns had taken his spot and now, Daniel was swimming among the crowd of other, less important names. Kane was one of them.

There’s the top, and then there’s the rest.

Daniel had been at the top once.

Some don’t even live to say that much.

Kane was still mad at him, from what he could tell. Daniel hadn’t been back for what seemed like a week and they were already being pitted against each other again. It was the Authority’s doing, of course.

If things were different, maybe Daniel would have taken the time to sit down and talk with Kane. Rekindle the old friendship that it was doing no good to anybody to keep pushing away.

Maybe Kane would have understood, and maybe Daniel would have saw a glimmer of the man he once knew. Maybe Kane would have been too far gone to see any reason not to chokeslam Daniel through whatever furniture was near.

If things were different, life would go back to normal, to the way it used to be, and Daniel wouldn’t have to live in this dystopia that he’d created for himself.

But, he’d never know until he tried.


End file.
